Stone locks Lively for ‘Savages’

John Travolta is also set for the marijuana caper

EXCLUSIVE: After a long casting process, Oliver Stone has found his female lead for “Savages,” locking in Blake Lively in the role of Ophelia.

Also set is John Travolta, who’s been cast a DEA agent.

Variety first reported that Lively was the front-runner for the role (Daily Variety Apr. 11), but at the time was also considering the option to star in “Oz: The Great and Powerful” for Disney. Stone is on to direct and is currently revising the script by Don Winslow and Shane Salerno.

Based on the Winslow tome, story follows two Laguna Beach marijuana kingpins forced to work for a Mexican drug cartel after Ophelia, the free-spirited girlfriend they share, is kidnapped.

Aaron Johnson and Taylor Kitsch are in talks to play the two male leads, with Benicio del Toro circling one of the cartel enforcers.

Universal will distribute the pic, which looks poised to hit its June start date.

Lively beat out the likes of Olivia Wilde and Teresa Palmer for the role, and with a cast firmly set, a greenlight can’t be far away.

The Ophelia role was long coveted, and at one point had Jennifer Lawrence in first position before she accepted the role as Katniss in Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games.”

Lively is currently filming “Hick” with Chloe Moretz and Alec Baldwin. Travolta is set to star as John Gotti Sr. in “Gotti: Three Generations.”